Daughters
by You've Got Wings Baby
Summary: Now a Dual effort! What if Lorelai were in Luke’s situation when it came to a long lost daughter? Set in season 1. Lorelai is dating Max, but then gets some startling news. How will Max react? How will everyone else react?
1. Chapter 1

Summary: What if Lorelai were in Luke's situation when it came to a long lost daughter? Set in season 1. Lorelai is dating Max, but then gets some startling news. How will Max react? How will everyone else react? JJ all the way. 

Ok, so, I know Lorelai's daughter can't really be long and lost because she's the woman, so she'd have to have given birth to her, which makes it a little hard to not know about her. But, let's just say that a few years before the show started, Lorelai and Rory went on a vacation or something, where she fell in love (or so she thought) with a guy named David. She ended up getting pregnant, so she and Rory just stayed on vacation til after the baby was born, and she left her daughter with David to be taken care of. This story takes place 3 years later, when something happens to David, meaning her "long lost" daughter has to come live in Stars Hollow with them. Let's pretend we live in a perfect world, so there's no legal matters or anything like that. Let the story begin!

Chapter One

"Bye, Max," Lorelai said, as her boyfriend made his way down her front porch steps and to his car at the early hour of 9 o'clock. Their evening would have been longer, but it was cut short by Lorelai's wandering mind. Seeing that his girlfriend was not all there that night, he had insisted that she get some rest, and they'd talk the next day. Lorelai eagerly took him up on his offer. She had some thinking to do.

She strolled into the kitchen and took out a piece of paper and pen to write a note to her daughter. "Rory, Went to bed early. Wake me up when you get home. I have something I need to talk to you about. It's kind of important. Love, Mom." She placed the note on Rory's door so she couldn't miss it, and headed to her room.

Lorelai lay in bed for what seemed like forever. She couldn't sleep. And why did she think she ever could? This was big. No, this was huge.

After awhile, she heard the front door open and close. Rory was home. _Finally_, she thought. _Maybe I can get some sleep after I talk to her_. Rory's footsteps could be heard walking through the living room, then the kitchen, towards her bedroom, and then, they stopped. _She's probably reading the note_. Mere seconds later, there were footsteps on the stairs, heading rapidly towards Lorelai's room.

"Mom? Mom, are you awake?" Rory said, sitting on the edge of the bed and facing her mother.

"Yeah, I'm awake all right. I can't get any sleep," Lorelai replied, sitting up.

"Why? What's wrong? You said you needed to talk to me about something," Rory said, referring to the note.

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah, I've definitely got something to talk to you about. Something big. No, something huge."

"What is it?" Rory asked, genuinely concerned.

"Well…" Lorelai began, looking down at her hands. "You remember three years ago, right? When we went on vacation?"

"Yeah. How could I forget?"

"And you remember how we left Isabelle with David?"

"Yeah… Mom, where are you going with this? Isabelle's okay, right? I mean, we just talked to her last week."

"No, that's not it. Isabelle's fine. She's great, even," Lorelai said, now looking Rory straight in the eye. "It's David that's not okay."

Rory gasped. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know. I just got a call yesterday saying that something happened to him, and now Isabelle is coming to live with us."

"Oh, wow," Rory whispered. "Everything changes with just one phone call."

"Yeah."

"Well, this is good, right? You get to know your daughter, and I get to know my sister. This should be great," Rory said, trying to cheer her mother up.

"Yeah, it should be great, but it's not. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with your sister, and I love her with all my heart, but things were just going good with everything. With me and Max, with the inn… I'm just afraid that this is going to mess everything up," Lorelai said, looking down again, ashamed to admit that she was thinking these things.

"Oh, Mom. If Max can't accept this, then he's not the guy you thought he was, which means he's not the guy for you. Some things just aren't meant to be, no matter how much you want them to be." Rory said, rubbing her mother's arms in comfort.

"Come here," Lorelai said, lunging towards Rory for a hug. Whispering in her ear, she said, "We're in this together, you and me."

"Us against the world," Rory said, with a smile. Lorelai laughed a bit, and pulled back, but still held onto Rory's hands.

"When does she get here?"

"Tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? That's so soon. Do we have everything we need for her?"

"Most of it, yes. I figured we could pull out all of your old stuff from when you were three, and then go buy the rest of the stuff tomorrow before she gets here. Her plane gets in at 3."

"Okay, it's a plan. Where's she going to sleep?"

"I don't know."

"I don't mind sharing a room."

"No, I couldn't do that to you. She's only three, which means she still probably gets up a lot in the middle of the night because of monsters, or she's just gotta pee or something," Lorelai said, smiling a bit as she remembered the days when Rory was little. "If she slept in your room, you'd be up all the time, and that's not fair. You need your sleep."

"Where's she gonna sleep, then? In your room?"

"Well, I figured she would until we can come up with something else."

"Okay. So, we better get to sleep. We've got a big day tomorrow," Rory said, smiling. She was trying her best to get Lorelai excited about this. She knew that deep down, her mother was happy that Isabelle was coming. Lorelai hated three years ago when she had to leave her precious baby in the hands of someone she had only known for a little over nine months. Lorelai was the kind of person who did everything she could for her kids, so leaving Isabelle behind was the hardest thing she ever had to do.

"Yeah, big day," Lorelai said, with a sigh. She laid back down and fell asleep, having known that she had finally told someone and it went well.

Rory went back downstairs, and into her room. Once she was ready for bed, she laid down, and stared at the ceiling, not getting a bit of sleep. She was too busy planning all the things she was going to do with her little sister.

Tbc.

Did you like it? Tell me whether of not in a review!

Coming up…  
After a long day of shopping, Lorelai and Rory pick Isabelle up from the airport. What does Luke think when they bring her to the diner to meet him?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 3 

"I'm gonna go say hi to Dean. Can you get me some coffee and pancakes?" Rory asked as she and Lorelai walked towards Luke's the next morning.

"Sure. Say hi for me," Lorelai replied, watching Rory walk off towards Doose's as she entered the diner. "Hey, Luke," she said as she sat down at the counter.

"Hey. Coffee?" Luke asked, though Lorelai was staring off into space. "Lorelai? Lorelai!"

"Huh? What?"

"I asked if you wanted coffee."

"Oh, yeah... sure," Lorelai said, though still distracted.

Luke pulled out a blue mug and poured her some coffee. Lorelai reached out and took a sip. She set the mug back down and stared into it.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"Is something on your mind?"

"Oh, uh... no."

"Okay..." Luke trailed off. He still wasn't convinced, so he ignored the breakfast rush to be there for her.

"Luke?" Lorelai said, finally looking up at him?

"Yeah?"

"We're friends, right?"

"Yeah."

"Could we talk? Upstairs, I mean?" Lorelai requested, almost at a whisper.

"Oh, sure. Follow me." Lorelai got up and grabbed her purse to follow Luke up to his apartment. They walked inside, and Luke motioned for her to join him on the couch. Once they were both settled, Lorelai began.

"I have a secret."

"Okay," Luke said, not quite sure where she was going with this.

"It's a huge secret that only me and Rory know. We've had it for three years."

"Okay." He was still very puzzled.

"Luke, I have a daughter."

"I know. Rory."

"No, Luke. I have another daughter. Her name is Isabelle and she's 3 years old."

"Right, okay. Come on, Lorelai. Stop joking. What's really going on?" Luke asked, genuinely concerned. He knew it must be something big if she was covering it up with a tale like this.

"I'm not joking, Luke. When Rory and I went on vacation 3 years ago, I met this guy names David. I ended up pregnant, so we just decided to stay there until the baby was born, so I planned on just bringing her back here when she was born, but," she stopped and swallowed, struggling to keep the tears at bay. When she was sure she was calm, she continued. "But he loved her so much and he really wanted to keep her. So, I let him." She paused again. "It was the hardest decision I ever had to make, and I regret it ever since." A few tears that she had failed to hide fell down her face. "I kept in touch, and Rory and I talk to her at least five times a week, every week, and we visit as much as we can." She paused once more. "She's the sweetest little girl, Luke."

Luke was in shock. _Lorelai has another kid? Oh my God... This is big. This is huge. This is... I wonder if she's addicted to coffee too?_ "Wow."

"I know. And I got a call a couple days ago saying that something happened to David, and now Izzy's coming to live with us... She's coming home, Luke."

"Well, that's great, but why do you seem so nervous about it?"

"What are people gonna say, Luke? What're they gonna think about me? They'll probably say I'm a horrible person for leaving her behind. But they don't know, Luke. They just don't know," Lorelai said, tears spilling from her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. It'll all be okay." Luke held her close as she cried into his chest.

Lorelai still had a lot in her, though. "They don't know how hard it was to leave my daughter in a place 500 miles away from me and Rory. They don't know that I call her and talk to her all the time and that I've been there for every birthday and Christmas and Easter and Labor day... I'm a good mom, Luke. I am... I am."

"I know you are. And I'll personally kick anyone's ass for you who says otherwise."

After a few more minutes of sobbing, Lorelai pulled back and wiped her eyes.

"Thanks, Luke."

"It's no problem."

"No, really, thank you so much. I think I really needed this. I just needed to vent. I mean, I couldn't do it in front of Rory because I need to be strong for her, but... Oh my God, Rory!" Lorelai said, remembering that she was supposed to be having breakfast with her first daughter. "She's probably downstairs, wondering what's going on."

"Right." They walked out the door and back down to the diner.

* * *

"What time is it?" Rory asked, looking all around the airport or a clock. 

"Around 2:30. She'll be here in a half hour," Lorelai replied, sounding nervous.

"Are you happy?" Rory questioned, knowing that no matter how nervous her mother was, she was still ecstatic that she was finally getting her daughter back.

"Yeah, I'm happy." Lorelai smiled and wrapped her arm around Rory. They walked to the nearest seats and waited for the smallest of their family to arrive.

Forty-five minutes later, after checking that flight had indeed been delayed, and they hadn't gone to the wrong place, a small girl with long, curly, dark hair emerged from the airport gates, tightly gripping the hand of a tall, blonde stewardess.

When Rory and Lorelai saw her, they both ran up to her as fast as they could.

"Mommy!" Isabelle yelled, and she let go of the stewardess' hand and ran up to Lorelai. Lorelai bent down and opened her arms to receive the hug that her daughter was offering.

"I take it this little angel belongs to you?" the stewardess asked, stepping up beside them.

"Yes, she does. Thank you for taking care of her," Rory said. Lorelai and Isabelle were still too caught up in each other to notice.

Once the stewardess had left, Rory bent down with her mother and sister, and wrapped her arms around them both. All three had tears in their eyes.

After a few more minutes of just holding each other, Isabelle said, "Mommy, can we go back to your house now?"

"Of, course, babe. But it's your house too, now." Lorelai said, pulling back. At this, Rory and Isabelle both let go too.

"Oh yeah. I forgot."

"Why don't we go get your stuff and get something to eat, and then we'll go home?"

"It's a plan," Isabelle said, sounding just like her mother. They all walked towards baggage claim and grabbed Izzy's stuff.

About a half hour later, they pulled up outside of Luke's. Lorelai parked the car, but didn't move to get out.

"Mom, what are you waiting for?" Rory asked, as her stomach growled so all three could hear it. Isabelle just giggled.

Lorelai looked towards the diner, specifically at one of the tables. Rory followed her mother's gaze to see Miss Patty and Babette talking (probably gossip) to each other over lunch. Rory understood her mother's concern and offered to stay in the car with her sister while she went in and got some food.

When Lorelai agreed, she hopped out of the car and walked into Luke's, completely ignoring Hello magazine. "Hey, Luke," she said, leaning against the counter.

"Hey. What can I get you?"

"Food for three, to go. So, make it food for six."

Luke nodded, then remembered where Lorelai had been for the past couple hours. He glanced outside and saw Rory sitting in the Jeep, turned around. She was obviously talking to someone. "Is she here?" Luke asked at a whisper. Lorelai had to strain to hear him.

"Yeah, she's here. She's in the back seat. And to tell you the truth, I'm not quite sure how she fit there with all the stuff Rory and I bought today and then all her luggage on top of that."

Luke smiled. He went in the back and got Lorelai her food, boxed it up, and brought it out to her. Lorelai reached in the purse for some money, but Luke put his hand on hers, stopping her. "It's on the house this time… Special day."

"Thanks, Luke."

"No problem."

She turned around to walk out the door, but turned back around at the last minute. She walked back up to a confused Luke and said, "Would you mind, maybe bringing some dinner over later? I don't really want to leave the house once we get there. I'd like to get her settled in."

"Sure."

Lorelai smiled at him, and slowly walked back to her car. She hopped in a drove off, home bound.

Tbc.

I know, I kinda stopped it suddenly, and I didn't make it happen the way I said I would, but I like this better. Did you love it? Hate it? Were you indifferent? Tell me in a review.

Coming up…  
Lorelai and Rory and Isabelle are home, at last. What happens when Babette's prying eyes let the whole neighborhood know of their new inhabitant?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

"This is your new home, Izzy," Lorelai said as she walked through the front door, holding her daughter.

"Wow, it's so big," Isabelle said, looking around with wide eyes. "Where do I sleep?"

"Well, right now, you're going to have to sleep with me in my room, but it's only for a little bit. You'll have your own space soon."

"I get to sleep with you?" Isabelle asked, with a bright smile on her face.

"Yes, you do. But don't worry. Your own room is on its way."

"Why would I worry? I want to sleep with you."

"Well, we'll worry about that later. Right now, let's eat," Lorelai said, setting Isabelle down in a chair at the table. Just as Lorelai sat down too, Rory burst through the door with at least 3 different bags in each hand.

"Thanks for all the help, guys," she said sarcastically as she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table with her mother and sister.

"Anytime," Lorelai replied as she took a big bite of her burger. "We'll be glad to help bring in the rest of the stuff after we save ourselves from potential starvation."

"Oh yeah, you sure look like you're withering away to nothing over there," Rory replied, rolling her eyes. Isabelle just sat at the table, quietly eating and giggling at her oh so amusing family. She was very happy to be home with them.

"So, Izzy, what's your favorite movie? I figured we could have a movie night tonight," Lorelai said as she stuffed two or three fries into her mouth.

"Movie night?" Isabelle asked, confused.

"We watch tons of movies and eat lots of junk food," Rory told her proudly.

"And Mommy doesn't yell at you for eating so much sugar right before bed?" Isabelle asked, perplexed.

"No. Actually, she encourages it."

"Encourages?" Isabelle struggled to get out.

"It means she likes it. She _wants _us to eat all the sugar."

"Whoa," Isabelle said, slumping back in her chair.

"So? Any movies you'd like to watch?" Lorelai asked with a smile. There were so many things she had to teach her youngest daughter.

"Um… Willy Wonka! I _love _that movie!" Isabelle stated, shooting up in her chair, with big eyes.

"Oh, great. Now I have no shot whatsoever at being the favorite daughter," Rory said, feigning defeat.

"Huh?"

"Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is my favorite movie too!" Lorelai said, sticking her palm out to Isabelle for a high five. Isabelle gladly smacked her hand, happy to be brought into the mix.

"I love the Oompa Loompas," Isabelle stated, taking a sip of the apple juice Luke gave to Lorelai, especially for Izzy.

"Great. Now I look like Hitler compared to you," Rory said to her sister.

"Really? I'm going to marry one some day, y'know," Lorelai said, matter-of-factly.

"Cool!" Isabelle shouted.

Their conversation went on like this for the rest of their meal and throughout the rest of the day. It was like things had never been different. They all loved each other more than anything else in the world. Lorelai was beaming. Ever since Isabelle was born, all she wanted was for her to come home and be apart of the family she and Rory had. Now that it was here, it couldn't be more perfect.

At about 7:30, the girls were sitting on the couch, after bringing in all of Izzy's stuff and the stuff Rory and Lorelai had bought for her earlier in the day. They were exhausted.

"I wish Luke would hurry up with our food," Lorelai said. Right on cue, there was a knock at the door. After sharing a look with Rory at the odd moment, she got up and opened the door. On the other side stood Luke, holding two boxes of pizza and a mystery bag.

"Luke, you didn't have to get pizza. Burgers would've been just fine," Lorelai said, leading Luke into the kitchen.

"Well, that's what you had for lunch, so I figured you wouldn't want it again. It's no problem, really." For some reason, Luke seemed a bit nervous to Lorelai.

"Luke, are you okay?" she asked, as she pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit down.

Taking a seat, Luke said, "Yeah, yeah… I'm fine. Couldn't be better, as a matter of fact."

"Well, good." Lorelai stood above the table and opened the mystery bag that sat atop the pizza boxes. Inside was a gallon of rocky road ice cream. "Luke, you shouldn't have," Lorelai said, putting her hand to her chest. She was truly touched that Luke had thought of all this.

"It was nothing. I figured you girls would want to have one of your movie nights and you can never have enough ice cream for one of those. At least, that's what you say, anyway."

"Well, it's true."

"And I knew you and Rory both love Rocky Road, so I figured she would, too. If she doesn't, I could go get what she likes, or-"

"No, Luke, you've done enough. Let me go get something to pay you back with."

Lorelai started walking towards the living room to get her purse when Luke got up to follow her. "No, Lorelai, this was just a favor for you guys. I'm not taking anything," he said, as they entered the living room, where Rory and Isabelle were still sitting on the couch together.

Lorelai stood next to Isabelle and was about to protest not giving Luke anything in return for his blatant chivalry, when Isabelle tugged on her sleeve, pulling her down to Isabelle's level.

"Mommy, who's that?" she whispered in her mother's ear.

Lorelai stood back up and smiled. "Oh, that's Luke. He brought us some dinner." She turned towards Luke. "Luke, this is Isabelle."

Luke just smiled awkwardly. He was never good around kids. There was just something about their jam hands that gave him the creeps.

"Hi, Luke," Isabelle said, as she smiled from ear to ear. "You can call me Izzy if you want."

"Um, okay. Hi, Izzy."

Lorelai just smiled at Luke. He was trying hard. She could tell. She turned back to Rory and Isabelle. "There's pizza in the kitchen if you want some." At this, Rory shot up and headed straight for the kitchen, making sure to thank Luke as she passed him.

Isabelle got up off the couch too, but went straight for Luke, and grabbed his hand. _Hm, no jam hands,_ he thought. She said, "Come on, Luke! Let's go get some pizza!" She dragged him off to the kitchen with her.

"Oh, well, I-"

"Oh, come on, Luke. Stay for dinner," Lorelai said, as she trailed behind her daughters and Luke.

"Well… okay. I guess Ceasar can manage without me for a little while. But I can only stay for dinner. No movies or ice cream."

"Like you would eat the ice cream anyway," Lorelai said, sarcastically.

"And die young? I don't think so."

They ate together, just as they had early in the day. Nothing was awkward, and nothing could be more perfect. Luke even had a conversation or two with Izzy. Afterwards, Luke bid the ladies farewell, and walked out the door, but not before receiving a hug from Isabelle, and not before Lorelai could slip a few bills in his back pocket without him noticing.

At around 9, when Willy Wonka had just sent the chocolate bar across the room by television, another knock came at the front door.

"I wonder who that could be? Maybe Luke found the money I slipped in his back pocket." Lorelai stood up to go answer the door, holding Isabelle, because she had fallen asleep minutes before. She thought it safe, because who would come to her house this late at night but Luke?

She swung open the door, not even looking to see who was there, and whispered, "Look, Luke, I'm not taking the money ba-" Just as she was about to finish her sentence, Lorelai looked up to see Babette standing before her, with eyes as big as donuts. Lorelai could swear she stopped breathing.

"Oh, hi, Babette. Come on in." Lorelai swallowed hard. This would take some explaining.

"Hi, doll. I just came over cuz I saw you had a guest earlier. You were bringin' in bags upon bags and I was just wonderin' what was goin' on," Babette whispered when she saw that the mystery girl Lorelai was holding was asleep.

Lorelai led Babette into the living room. Upon seeing Babette's entrance, Rory's mouth dropped open wider than the grand canyon. "Uh… Hi… Babette," she stuttered.

"Hey, Sugar," she said, as she took a seat next to Rory. Any other neighbor would have left the second she saw that Isabelle was asleep, but Babette was on a mission. She could not let the town down.

"Hey, Rory, can you bring her upstairs for me?" Lorelai said, as she handed Isabelle to her oldest daughter.

"Sure."

"Mommy? What's going on?" Isabelle asked as she stirred when being handed from person to person.

_Damn. There's no chance in denying her now_, Lorelai thought, sarcastically. "Rory's just bringing you upstairs to bed. We'll finish Willy Wonka in the morning."

"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy."

"Night, babe. I love you," she said, as she kissed her on the cheek.

"I love you too." With that, Rory walked upstairs and into the bedroom, clicking the door shut to give her mother and Babette some privacy.

Lorelai turned back to Babette, whose eyes were wide, and whose mouth was dropped down so far, it could touch the ground. Lorelai took a seat next to her. "I guess you want an explaination, huh?"

Babette just shook her head quietly. Lorelai reached her hand out to shut Babette's mouth, and began.

Thirty minutes later, Lorelai was guiding Babette back out the front door. Babette hadn't said a word during their entire exchange. She just nodded and smiled. By the time Lorelai was finished telling her about Isabelle, she was sure Babette's jaw must be broken from all the dropping it did.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

Tbc.

Read and Review!

Coming up…  
The town knows. Ugh. Max doesn't know. UGH. Max comes to visit and runs into Miss Patty. Enough said.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

Max walked through the town with a smile on his face. He knew Lorelai had been feeling distracted lately, and couldn't wait to show up on her doorstep with a fist full of flowers and a night full of big, romantic plans. He had parked near the center of town because he didn't want to alert her with his presence when he pulled into her driveway. Quietly knocking on the door would be much more of a surprise.

As he passed the dance studio, he noticed something peculiar. _I thought town meetings were only held at night_, he thought, as he heard Taylor slam the gavel on the podium, announcing that the meeting was adjourned. Curious as to what was going on, he walked up to Miss Patty, as she exited the building, to find out.

"Hey, Patty, what's going on? I thought you only had Town Meetings at night?" he asked, as the afternoon sun shone brightly in his eyes.

"Oh, well, this one was a special meeting," she replied nervously. She seemed a bit too eager to Max to get away from him.

"What was so special about it?"

After debating whether or not to answer him, Patty said, "Well… Don't tell Lorelai this, but it was about her."

This surprised Max. She was one of the town's most beloved residents, and they were having a meeting about her, behind her back?

"What was the meeting about, Patty?" Max asked, now more curious than ever.

"Her new little family member. Isn't she just too cute? I really must go now, dear. Say hello to Lorelai and those darling daughters of hers for me, and make sure you don't tell her about the meeting!" Patty shouted behind her as she hurried away.

_New family member? Max thought to himself and he continued walking towards Lorelai's house. What new family member? Did she get a dog? That must be it. That's the only explanation for it. But, why would they have a meeting about a dog?_ He neared Lorelai's house, but just as he was about to step onto the front lawn, he thought, _Wait, did she say daughters? As in… plural?_

Lorelai and Izzy were in the kitchen that afternoon, attempting to make themselves some grilled cheese. Apparently, Izzy's dad used to make it for her all the time, and she'd help, so she was an expert on it.

"Now, you have to butter the bread," Izzy instructed her mother. "Daddy never let me do this part because you have to use a knife."

"Okay. Do I butter both sides or just one?" Lorelai asked, scooping up some butter onto her knife and poising her hand in preparation.

"Just one. That way when you put it in the pan, it doesn't stick."

Lorelai began buttering the bread when Rory walked into the kitchen. "Whoa, what are you two doing?"

"Making grilled cheese," Lorelai announced, proudly.

"Izzy! I told you never to let her near anything that has to do with cooking! You don't want the house to burn down, do you?" Rory asked her sister, in mock discipline.

"Don't worry, Rory, I know how to do it. Daddy taught me," she replied. Turning her attention back to her mom, Izzy said, "Now, put the skillet on the stove and turn it on. I was never allowed to do this part either."

"Neither is Mom," Rory said.

"Come on, Rory, have a little faith!" Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. She put the skillet on the stove and turned it on. "I did it! And I still have all my fingers! Look, Rory! One through ten, all still there!" she said, holding up her hands proudly. "What next, Iz?"

"This is the part Daddy let me do."

"Ok." Lorelai bent down and picked her daughter up so she was level with the stove, while holding her carefully so she wouldn't get burnt. Isabelle picked up a piece of bread, and carefully laid it in the pan. She continued assembling the sandwiches as Rory and Lorelai watched on in amazement.

"Wow," was all Rory could say.

"All finished. Now we watch carefully and flip them over in a few minutes," Isabelle said, proud that she knew how to do something that her mother and older sister didn't.

They sat at the kitchen table and talked while waiting for flipping time to come. Less than a minute went by when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Lorelai said, standing up from the table. "Rory, you're in charge of flipping while I'm MIA."

"Yes ma'am," Rory said, saluting her mother with a smile. Izzy giggled.

Lorelai walked to the door, wondering who it could be. _Probably just another Stars Hollow citizen wanting to hear the talk of the town straight from the source, _she thought, as she opened the door. "Max," she gasped.

"Hi, Lorelai," he said flatly.

"Rory!" Lorelai called for her daughter, not taking her eyes off of Max for a second.

"Yeah, Mom? Who is it?" she asked as she walked towards her mother. "Oh, Max," she gasped also. "What are you doing here?" she asked in the most polite ay possible.

"I'm just here to see your mom," he said with a smile, thought still flatly.

"Oh. Ok," she gulped and turned towards her mother, giving her a look that said, "What're we gonna do?"

"Max, could you excuse us for just a second?" Lorelai asked. She didn't wait for an answer as she shut the door slowly, just for it to be stopped by Max's hand.

"You don't have to try and cover it up anymore, Lorelai. I already know." Max said sternly.

Lorelai gulped. "You do?"

Max nodded. "Yep."

"How?"

"I ran into Miss Patty."

Lorelai turned back to Rory. "Rory, could you stay in the kitchen with Izzy while I talk to Max? Remember to listen to her instructions. She's the one keeping the house from burning down."

"Okay." Rory walked off to the kitchen, leaving her mother and Max alone.

"Why don't we talk out here?" Lorelai said, stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind her.

"That's probably a good idea." He and Lorelai sat down on the steps and faced each other. "So, it's true."

"Yeah. It's true," Lorelai admitted.

"How long?"

"What do you mean, how long?"

"What else could I mean?"

"She's three years old. She just started living with us two week ago, though. I swear."

"So you've been keeping this from me for two weeks?" Lorelai looked down to the ground in response. "How did this happen?"

Lorelai went on to tell him the story of the vacation and David. "You weren't the only one who didn't know, I swear. It was just me and Rory. The only other person who knows is Mia, my boss, and that's only because I had to give her a legit reason for not coming back to work for 10 months. 9 months to have her, and a month to make sure everything was settled with David. My parents don't even know yet."

"But everyone else has known. And they've known for two weeks. We've been on dates since then, and you hadn't mentioned her. I knew you were distracted, but geez, Lorelai, this is big."

"I know."

"I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Do what?" Lorelai asked, looking up in surprise.

Max stood up from where he was sitting and began pacing across the porch. "This. You and me. If I can't trust you, I can't be in this relationship anymore."

"You can trust me. Really you can!" Lorelai said frantically.

"No, Lorelai. I really don't think I can… Here. These were for you," he said, handing her the flowers he had been holding since he had gotten there. "Yellow daisies. Your favorite."

Lorelai stood up and accepted the flowers. "Thank you, Max."

They stood together awkwardly. "Can I at least give you a goodbye hug?" she asked with a smile.

"Of course," he said, stepping towards her and wrapping his arms around her. Lorelai melted into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his neck, breathing in his scent one last time. They both let go, and Max said, "Goodbye, Lorelai Gilmore." He walked off the porch and towards town.

Once he was out of sight, Lorelai said, "Goodbye, Max Medina."

Tbc.

Coming Up: The trio goes to Luke's for lunch, but what happens when Izzy goes missing? Who will save the day?

Review!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

"Yo, Izzy!" Kirk shouted as the three Gilmore girls walked into the diner one morning.

"Hi, Kirk," she said, giving him a high five. Lorelai, Rory, and Isabelle walked up to the counter and sat down, Isabelle with a little help from Rory.

"Hey," Luke said, walking out from behind the curtain. "Coffee?" he asked, mainly to Lorelai.

"Sure!" Izzy said, surprising everyone.

"No. No way am I giving a three-year-old coffee."

"But Luke," she said, sticking out her bottom lip and giving him the patented Gilmore puppy dog eyes.

"Lorelai, can you help me out a little here?" Luke said, having a hard time resisting the look.

Lorelai motioned for him to lean in closer to her. "Just give it to her black. She'll never even want to look at it again," she whispered in his ear, sending chills down his spine.

"Okay." Luke stood up and grabbed a small mug and filled it with black coffee, making sure to get it from his "Lorelai Pot" so it would be extra strong. "Here ya go, kid."

"Thanks!" Izzy picked up the cup of coffee and sipped it carefully. Immediately, she set it back down and spit her sip back into the cup. "This is gross!"

"I tried to warn you," Luke said, giving her the smile he reserved only for the Gilmore girls.

Just then, Luke dropped his order taking pen and it rolled behind the curtain. "I'll get it!" Izzy shouted excitedly, jumping from her stool to the ground and chasing after the pen.

"But, insurance-" Luke tried to stop her, but she was already gone.

"She's just trying to help, Luke. She won't get a sack of potatoes on the head," Lorelai mocked.

"I sure hope not."

"So, Luke, guess what Mom's doing tonight," Rory said, making her presence known for the first time that morning.

"Admitting herself to the local insane asylum?"

"No, that's Sunday. Tonight, she's telling Grandma and Grandpa about Izzy."

"You mean, they don't know yet?" Luke asked, surprised. "It's been a month since she's been here.

"She's been avoiding it."

"I like breathing. It keeps me happy. The minute I tell Emily and Richard, that convenience will be taken away from me."

"I highly doubt that."

"You've clearly never met the elder Gilmore's."

Luke just rolled his eyes. Rory looked around and noticed that Isabelle hadn't come back yet. "Mom, where's Izzy?"

"Getting the pen, remember?"

"It takes 2 minutes to pick up a pen?" Rory said, suddenly getting worried.

"Oh my god." Lorelai jumped up from her stool and ran behind the curtain. No Izzy. She walked back out to the front and shouted, "Everyone stop what you're doing! Izzy's missing!" The diner went into an uproar. Everyone dropped their forks and spoons and began searching in and outside of the diner. "Where could she be?" Lorelai asked frantically.

"I don't know. Maybe she went to Doose's," Rory said, and they walked off in that direction.

Luke walked back behind the curtain to make sure Lorelai didn't miss anything. When he didn't see Isabelle back there, he turned around to go back out to the diner and continue looking, but the open back door caught his eye. "Who left this open?" he thought outloud.

He stepped outside and found Isabelle, crouched down next to a stray kitten with his order pen in her little hand.

"Izzy!" he shouted, relieved.

"Hi Luke! Look what I found!" she said enthusiastically, pointing to the kitten.

"I see that." He bent down and picked Izzy up, taking the pen from her hand as she offered it to him. "You gave everyone quite a scare, kiddo," he said, walking back into the diner to find Lorelai.

"Why?" she asked, oblivious to the commotion going on around her.

Luke just shook his head and said, "You can stop looking now! I've got her!" to the diner full of frantic people. They all stopped and went back to their tables and continued going about their business.

Luke walked outside and found Lorelai and Rory running around the outside of Doose's searching for Isabelle.

"Guys, I found her," Luke stated calmly.

Lorelai rushed up to them and took Izzy in her arms, holding her close. "Don't you do that ever, ever again, okay?" Izzy nodded, still a bit confused. "Luke can get his own pens from now on," she said with a smile.

Isabelle reached out and wiped the few tears from her mother's eyes. "I promise."

Tbc.

I have no excuses. I am just a bad human being. So sue me. I promise my next update will be tomorrow night at the latest. This was just a filler chapter to keep you hanging on til tomorrow night, so no getting upset about the shortness. I actually added stuff to what this was to make it longer. Tell me what you think! I promise to take all the tar and featherings in stride. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Being in a desert with no food or water... Uh, Standing in the middle of a room full of people, completely naked. Being on trial for witchcraft. Being tarred and feathered... Being eaten alive really slowly by a turtle..."

Izzy stood between her sister and mother, looking very confused. "Come on, Mom, let's stop playing the 'Things I'd Rather Be Doing Besides This' game and just get it over with," Rory said, exasperated. She reached out and rang the doorbell after 5 minutes of stalling.

The most recent maid of the Gilmore house answered the door.

"Hi," Lorelai said. "We're the daughter and granddaughter...s"

The maid took their coats and Emily met them in the hallway and said, "Lorelai, you're five minutes late." When she saw Izzy, she looked from Rory to Lorelai and then said, "The table is only set for four people. I didn't know you were bringing a guest."

Lorelai rolled her eyes while Rory looked at the floor. Izzy just stood there once again, not really knowing what was going on. "Mom, can we sit down and get some drinks or are we going to eat dinner in the hallway?"

"Well, come on then," Emily said, ushering them into the sitting room. "Are you going to tell me who our guest is?"

Lorelai picked up Izzy and sat down on the couch next to Rory, placing her on her own lap. "Well, Mom... Can we wait for Dad to come in here before I tell you that?"

"Nonsense, Lorelai, just tell me who she is. Or would she like to tell me herself?" Emily said, looking at Isabelle and smiling in a way that almost scared her.

"I'm Isabelle," she said shyly. "But you can call me Izzy if you want."

"Well, hello there, Isabelle."

Just then, Richard walked into the living room, joining the four girls. "Hello everyone."

"Hi, Grandpa," Rory said, standing to give him a hug.

"Hello, Rory. And who's this?" Richard asked, now noticing their new guest.

"I'm Isabelle," she said a bit more confidently this time.

"Well, hello Isabelle."

"Hi."

"Lorelai was just about to tell us to whom this Isabelle belongs and why she is joining us tonight. Weren't you, Lorelai?"

"Oh, I guess I was..." she trailed of.

"Well?" Emily said, getting impatient.

Lorelai looked at Izzy and smiled. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and said "She's my daughter."

For a while, Emily and Richard were silent. Lorelai could sense that things were about to get very loud, very quickly. "Rory," Lorelai said, "take Izzy up to my room." Without a word, Rory picked Izzy up and took her upstairs.

"What's going on?" Isabelle asked Rory once the door to their mother's bedroom clicked shut behind them.

"You remember how Grandma and Grandpa didn't know about you, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, they're really mad at Mom because she didn't tell them."

"Why?"

Rory sighed, wondering how she could explain this to her three year old sister. "You know how it's not nice to lie, right?"

"Right."

"Well, this is kinda like lying to them. Since she didn't tell them to begin with, and all."

"Oh. Are they gonna like me?"

"Iz, they already love you. It's the way they found out about you that they don't like."

"Ok... Why do they hate Mommy so much?"

Rory sighed. She was going to have to tell her everything. Everything she could handle, at least. She sat Izzy down on the bed and walked over to her mother's dresser and pulled out a photo album. She walked back over and sat next to her sister and opened the album onto both of their laps.

"What's this?" Isabelle asked.

"This is a photo album from when Mom was my age."

"Why is her tummy so round?"

"You know how when Mommies are going to have a baby, their tummies get really big?"

"Yeah."

"Well, in this picture, Mom is going to have me soon."

"Really? Cool!"

"Cool now that we're looking back on it, but not so cool back then."

"Why not?"

"Well, people usually wait to have babies til they're older, like about 25, I guess. But mom and my dad didn't wait. They didn't mean for it to happen, but it did. And it made Grandma and Grandpa really mad at her. They thought she'd ruined her life and theirs."

"But she didn't."

"No, she didn't, but Grandma and Grandpa have a hard time seeing that... They don't hate Mom, Iz, they just don't agree with her a lot of times. And because of that, they don't get along very well."

"Oh. Will they ever get along?"

"I don't know, Iz. I just don't know."

Meanwhile, Lorelai was down stairs, battling it out with her parents. After they got over their utter disbelief in the whole situation, Richard sat there mostly silent, while Emily did the yelling. 

"You did it again, Lorelai, you did it again! You shut us out again! Tell me, tell me why you didn't tell us that you had another daughter. Why do you always hide things from us? What did we do to deserve the way you treat us?"

"Mom! Will you just shut up? Let me talk! You and Dad aren't the only ones who didn't know about Izzy. Rory and I were the only one's that new about her. We didn't tell anybody!"

"That's still not an excuse!" Emily bellowed. "We're your parents. We deserve to know important things that go on in your life," she continued.

"Oh yeah? What would you have said if I told you that I got pregnant by a man I met on vacation and barely knew? That it was completely physical between me and him? Huh?"

Emily gasped. "Lorelai, do not say such things in this house."

"Well, it's the truth and you wanted the truth, so there it is. I got pregnant. We stayed on vacation to have the baby there. David loved her so he wanted to keep her. As hard as it was, I let him."

"Do you think that makes it all better? That just because you abandoned her to live with her father that you didn't have to tell us? You robbed us of Rory's early years, and now you've robbed us of Isabelle's." Emily said.

"I didn't abandon her, Mom!" Lorelai said defending herself. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave her behind!"

"I imagine it felt a hell of a lot like when you left your father and I."

"No, actually, not at all. When I left here, I did it because you were suffocating me. It was the best thing I ever did, leaving here," Lorelai hissed.

Emily was taken aback by her last comment. "Get out."

"Gladly," Lorelai said, storming up the stairs to get her daughters.

As Lorelai reached the door to her bedroom, she opened it slowly and peeked inside. There, laying on the bed, was Rory with a sleeping Isabelle on top of her. She went in and sat down on the bed gently so she wouldn't wake Izzy up.

"How'd it go?" Rory asked.

"Pretty bad kid, pretty bad. Let's go home." Lorelai answered.

Lorelai took Izzy from Rory so she could stand up. Lorelai walked ahead of Rory as they went down the steps and out the front door. Before Rory walked out the door, she looked behind her at her grandparents in the sitting room and shook her head sadly.

Tbc.

So? What did you think? This is the first chapter done by yours truly AND jonsie2128, or Doogie as she is more affectionately known. From now on, this story is a dual effort!

Coming up: Lorelai goes to Luke's for a bit of comfort after the big blow up.

Review! 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

A half hour after the Great Gilmore fiasco, the girls walked into Luke's to finally eat some dinner. Izzy was half asleep already, so Lorelai sent Rory and Isabelle home with burgers and pie.

"So, I guess it didn't go too well," Luke said, as he set a cup of steaming coffee and a piece of cherry pie in front of Lorelai.

"Oh, no, it was just peachy," Lorelai said, sarcastically. She looked down at her coffee and then back up to Luke with a sad smile on her face. "It was pretty bad." She looked back down to the counter. "I don't know how I can go back there after tonight."

"Anything I can do to help?" Luke asked, sympathetically.

"Well," Lorelai said, "another piece of pie would be a nice start."

"Sure thing," he replied as he slid another plate full of pie towards her.

"Thanks," Lorelai said, distantly.

Lorelai ate her pie in silence while Luke went through his receipts for the day. When she was finished, she said, "Well, I guess I should go." She stood up and gathered her things together and walked towards the door when she felt Luke grab a hold of her elbow. She was shocked by the sparks it sent through her and she turned around quickly to see Luke only a few inches from her face.

After taking a ragged breath, Luke said, "I'll walk you home."

Lorelai stared up at him and said, "Okay," almost breathlessly before turning around and heading out the door.

The two of them walked in silence for about a minute, each noticing the tension between them. Everytime Lorelai would bump into Luke, she'd give him a shy smile, and vice versa. About halfway to her house, Luke asked, "So, what happened?" 

"Well, World War Three had erupted in the Gilmore household," Lorelai said, nonchalantly.

"I see. I take it they weren't too thrilled about Izzy?"

"Well, I wouldn't say it was Izzy they weren't thrilled about. It was more the fact that I didn't tell them about Izzy. Let's just say my mother basically threw us out of her house."

Not knowing what to say, Luke just looked at her sympathetically as she looked down at the ground. Luke couldn't imagine why anybody would throw Lorelai out, let alone her daughters, regardless of the situation. From the one time he had met the Gilmore's though, he knew that they were exactly the type of people who would do that. 

Luke and Lorelai reached her doorstep. Once on the porch, Lorelai stopped in front of the door and turned to Luke. "Thank you for this, Luke."

"Well, I didn't want you to have to walk alone in the dark, even in Stars Hollow."

"No, not just for that. I mean for comforting me. It really means a lot."

"Well, uh... you're welcome," Luke said, a little embarrassed.

Lorelai stepped towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in the crook of his neck. Luke wrapped his arms around Lorelai as well, a bit awkwardly at first, but after a minute, they both relaxed into it. Lorelai reluctantly pulled her head up to look Luke in the eyes. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were both leaning in towards each other when the front door clicked open as Rory quietly said, "Mom? Is that you?" 

Luke and Lorelai quickly jumped apart. Recovering quickly, Lorelai said , "No, I'm Mike Myers and I've come to kill you with my butcher knife." 

Rory opened the door all the way and saw her mom and Luke. "Oh...hi Luke." 

"Hi...umm...I think I'll be going. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Luke quickly walked down the steps and back towards the diner. 

Lorelai watched him go and then looked at Rory and said, "We need some kind of signal." 

Rory got a got a confused look on her face and after Lorelai gave her a look realized what she had interrupted.

After a discussion as to what dating Luke could mean, Lorelai and Rory finally made their ways to their beds for the night at 2 in the morning. About three hours later, while Lorelai was laying awake, Izzy woke up crying.

"What's wrong, babe?" Lorelai asked, quickly scooping Izzy up into her arms.

"I had a bad dream," Izzy said, through tears.

"What was it about?" Lorelai asked as she wiped the tears from her daughter's eyes.

"I was at my old house and I was looking around for Daddy but I couldn't find him."

"Aw, babe, it's okay now. I'm here."

"Where's Luke?" Isabelle asked after a few minutes.

"He's at his house, Iz. Why?"

"Because I wanna see him. I like him."

"Why do you like him so much?" Lorelai asked, a little amused that Isabelle would ask for Luke at 5 in the morning, which wasn't all that crazy since Luke was probably already up.

"Because he reminds me of my Daddy."

"Oh," Lorelai said in realization. "Why does he remind you of him? He doesn't look like him at all."

"I know. But Daddy always pretended to be mean to everyone but me and you and Rory because he loved us best. Luke does it too and he really loves you."

Lorelai sat and looked at her daughter in disbelief. She couldn't believe that her three year old daughter saw that Luke had feelings for her. She always thought Rory and the rest of the town were crazy, but if Izzy could see it too... maybe there was really something more. 


End file.
